Who is this resource for?
- Stage: 6
- Subject: Modern History
- Curriculum links:
- Stage 6 Preliminary Modern History, Investigating Modern History – The Nature of Modern History
Our understanding of the past is determined by the historical sources at our disposal. At the same time, an understanding of history is necessary to contextualise and interpret those very sources.
As such, even a seemingly straightforward text might elicit a range of different responses, and serve as the catalyst for wide-reaching historical debate. One such text, controversial in its meaning, is a brief set of guidelines written by the chief of the Security Police, Reinhard Heydrich, to the leaders of the SS-Einsatzgruppen in 1939.
Known as the Schnellbrief, this document is understood by some scholars as having provided the authorisation for the establishment of ghettos, while other scholars disagree. This makes the Schnellbrief an ideal source for considering the contestability of the past.
To download this Lesson Plan, follow the link below.
Image credit: Schnellbrief from Reinhard Heydrich, Head of the Reich Security Main Office, to SS Einsatzgruppen in Poland, Berlin, 21 September 1939. Courtesy US Holocaust Memorial Museum.